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TREELEAF SANGHA online 2-DAY ANGO-JUKAI-ROHATSU RETREAT -- 2013 --

WELCOME ...

... to our TREELEAF'AT HOME' Two Day 'ALL ONLINE' ROHATSU (Buddha's Enlightenment Day) RETREAT, being held by LIVE NETCAST on Saturday/Sunday December 7th and 8th, 2013 (though starting Friday night in some time zones).

Please 'sit-a-long' with the LIVE NETCAST at the times below ... to be visible "live" on our Treeleaf Google+ Page during those hours:

Recordings of each segment are posted below in time order ... and if we drop from mind all thought of 'now' 'then' 'here' and 'there' ... we will all be sitting together right when and where you are!

This Retreat celebrates the 'official' closure of our ANGO (90 day Special Practice Season) at Treeleaf, is a part of current preparations for our JUKAI (Undertaking the Precepts) Ceremony in January, and marks ROHATSU ... the traditional holiday in Japan celebrating the time of the Buddha's Enlightenment.

Jundo will be guiding the first day of sitting on Saturday, and Taigu on Sunday.

In case of technical problems, please just go along as best you can with the schedule ... we sit with "what is".. .

OF COURSE, EVERYTHING IN MODERATION ... if the sitting ever feels too much, be sure to walk lots and lots of Kinhin (even if during a sitting period). And if the whole retreat becomes too much, or you feel ill, you may slow down ... , spread things out, shorten the sittings ... or STOP! Be sure that you have someone close by whom you can call, or who can check on you from time to time. If there is any question about health, do not take any chances!

Our thanks to Sangha Member William Anderson for presenting a 15-Minute YOGA LESSON TO HELP US STRETCH DURING ANY BREAK TIME (LINK HERE)

DAY 1
06:00-06:50 AM Entrance by Officiant (Jundo) & Zazen. If you usually wear a Rakusu, DO NOT wear it yet (keep it in its bag) until Takkesage (Kesa Verse) later in morning.
06:50-07:00 Kinhin* (All Kinhin times can be bathroom break)
07:00-07:35 Zazen
07:35-07:45 Kinhin

07:45-08:25 Zazen + Kesa Verse
08:25-09:05 "Long" Service.Please follow along in the Sutra Books that will be provided. Floor prostrations when hear ching-ching-ching-ching- ching roll of bell.
09:05-09:20 REST PERIOD

06:00-06:40 AM Zazen Begin sitting without instruction. If you usually wear a Rakusu, DO NOT wear it yet (keep it in its bag) until Takkesage (Kesa Verse) later in morning.
06:40-07:00 Long (20 minute) Kinhin*
07:00-07:35 Zazen
07:35-07:45 Kinhin

07:45-08:25 Zazen + Kesa Verse When instructed, place on Kesa and recite Kesa Verse. All others, hands in Gassho.
08:25-08:55 "Long" Service Please follow along in the Sutra Books that will be provided. Floor prostrations when hear ching-ching-ching-ching- ching roll of bell.
08:55-09:20 REST PERIOD

ATTENTION: IF YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SIT PORTIONS OF THIS RETREAT BY LIVE '2-WAY' VIDEO HANGOUT, PLEASE PM JUNDO PRIOR TO THE START OF THE RETREAT. I will add you to our "ROHATSU 2013" Circle, and you should receive email notification or notification for each unit of the Retreat via our Google+ Page allowing you to join the Hangout.

Also, please look for the reading materials that will be the subject of Dharma Talks by Jundo and Taigu on Saturday and Sunday, to be posted below in this thread soon.

Day 1 (Jundo) - Master Dogen's Guidelines for Studying the Way (GAKU DO YO JIN SHU)
Translation (Sections 1-5) by Ed Brown & Kazuaki Tanahashi; (Section 6-10) by Gudo Wafu NishijimaWE WILL NOT COVER ALL OF THIS, ONLY BITS AND PIECES - Jundo

1 - You should arouse the thought of enlightenment.

The thought of enlightenment has many names but they all refer to one and the same mind.
Ancestor Nagarjuna said, "The mind that fully sees into the uncertain world of birth and death is called the thought of enlightenment."
Thus if we maintain this mind, this mind can become the thought of enlightenment.

Indeed, when you understand the discontinuity the notion of self does not come into being, ideas of name and gain to not arise. Fearing the swift passage of the sunlight, practice the way as though saving your head from fire. Reflecting on this ephemeral life, make endeavor in the manner of Buddha raising his foot.

When you hear a song of praise sung by a kinnara god or a kalavinka bird, let it be as the evening breeze brushing against your ears. If you see the beautiful face of Maoqiang or Xishi, let it be like the morning dewdrops coming into your sight. Freedom from the ties of sound and form naturally accords with the essence of the way-seeking mind.

If in the past or present, you hear about students of small learning or meet people with limited views, often they have fallen into the pit of fame and profit and have forever missed the buddha way in their life. What a pity! How regrettable! You should not ignore this.

Even if you read the sutras of the expedient or complete teaching, or transmit the scriptures of the exoteric or esoteric schools, without throwing away name and gain it cannot be called arousing the thought of enlightenment.

Some of these people say, "The thought of enlightenment is the mind of supreme, perfect enlightenment. Do not be concerned with the cultivation of fame or profit."

Some of them say, "The thought of enlightenment is the insight that each thought contains three thousand realms."

Some of them say, "The thought of enlightenment is the mind of entering the buddha realm."

Such people do not yet know and mistakenly slander the thought of enlightenment. They are remote from the buddha way.

Try to reflect on the mind concerned only with your own gain. Does this one thought blend with the nature and attributes of the three thousand realms? Does this one thought realize the dharma gate of being unborn? There is only the deluded thought of greed for name and love of gain. There is nothing which could be taken as the thought of enlightenment.

From ancient times sages have attained the way and realized dharma. Although as an expedient teaching they lived ordinary lives, still they had no distorted thought of fame or profit. Not even attached to dharma, how could they have worldly attachment?

The thought of enlightenment, as was mentioned, is the mind which sees into impermanence. This is most fundamental, and not at all the same as the mind pointed to by confused people. The understanding that each thought is unborn or the insight that each thought contains three thousand realms is excellent practice after arousing the thought of enlightenment. This should not be mistaken.

Just forget yourself for now and practice inwardly—this is one with the thought of enlightenment. We see that the sixty-two views are based on self. So when a notion of self arises, sit quietly and contemplate it. Is there a real basis inside or outside your body now? Your body with hair and skin is just inherited from your father and mother. From beginning to end a drop of blood or lymph is empty. So none of these are the self. What about mind, thought, awareness, and knowledge? Or the breath going in and out, which ties a lifetime together: what is it after all? None of these are the self either. How could you be attached to any of them? Deluded people are attached to them. Enlightened people are free of them.

You figure there is self where there is no self. You attache to birth where there is no birth. You do not practice the buddha way, which should be practiced. You do not cut off the worldly mind, which should be cut off. Avoiding the true teaching and pursuing the groundless teaching, how could you not be mistaken?

2 - Once you see or hear the true teaching, you should practice it without fail.

One phrase offered by a loyal servant can have the power to alter the course of the nation. One word given by a buddha ancestor cannot fail to turn people’s minds. The unwise ruler does not adopt the servant’s advice. One who does not step forward cannot accept the buddha’s teaching. If you are unbending, you cannot stop floating along in birth and death. If appropriate advice is not heeded, governing with virtue cannot be realized.

3 - In the buddha way, you should always enter enlightenment through practice.

It is unheard-of that without studying someone should earn wealth or that without practicing someone should attain enlightenment. Though practice varies—initiated by faith or dharma knowledge, with emphasis on sudden or gradual enlightenment—you always depend on practice to go beyond enlightenment. Though study can be superficial or profound, and students can be sharp or dull, accumulated studying earns wealth. This does not necessarily depend on the king’s excellence or inability, nor should it depend on one’s having good or bad luck. If someone were to get wealth without studying, how could he transmit the way in which ancient kings, in times of either order or disorder, ruled the country? If you were to gain realization without practice, how could you comprehend the Tathagata’s teaching of delusion and enlightenment.

You should know that arousing practice in the midst of delusion, you attain realization before you recognize it. At this time you first know that the raft of discourse is like yesterday’s dream, and you finally cut off your old understanding bound up in the vines and serpents of words. This is not made to happen by Buddha, but is accomplished by your all-encompassing effort.

Moreover, what practice calls forth is enlightenment; your treasure house does not come from outside. How enlightenment functions is through practice; how could actions of mind-ground go astray? So if you turn the eye of enlightenment and reflect back on the realm of practice, nothing in particular hits the eye, and you just see white clouds for ten thousand miles. If you arouse practice as thought climbing the steps of enlightenment, not even a speck of dust will support your feet; you will be as far from true practice as heaven is from earth. Now step back and leap beyond the buddha land.

This portion was written on the night day, third month, second year of Tempuku [1234].

4 - You should not practice Buddha’s teaching with the idea of gain.

The practice of Buddha’s teaching is always done by receiving the essential instructions of a master, not by following your own ideas. In fact, Buddha’s teaching cannot be attained by having ideas or not having ideas. Only when the mind of pure practice coincides with the way will body and mind be calm. If body and mind are not yet calm, they will not be at ease. When body and mind are not at ease, thorns grow on the path of realization.

So that pure practice and the way coincide, how should we proceed? Proceed with the mind which neither grasps nor rejects, the mind unconcerned with name or gain. Do not practice buddha-dharma with the thought that it is to benefit others.

People in the present world, even those practicing the buddha-dharma, have a mind which is far apart from the way. They practice what others praise and admire, even though they know it does not accord with the way. They reject and do not practice what others fail to honor and praise, even though they know it is the true way. How painful! You should try to quiet your mind and investigate whether these attitudes are buddha-dharma or not. You may be completely ashamed. The eye of the sage illuminates this.

Clearly, buddha-dharma is not practiced for one’s own sake, and even less for the sake of fame and profit. Just for the sake of buddha-dharma you should practice it.

All buddhas’ compassion and sympathy for sentient beings are neither for their own sake nor for others. It is just the nature of buddha-dharma. Isn’t it apparent that insects and animals nurture their offspring, exhausting themselves with painful labors, yet in the end have no reward when their offspring are grown? In this way the compassion of small creatures for their offspring naturally resembles the thought of all buddhas for sentient beings.

The inconceivable dharma of all buddhas is not compassion alone, but compassion is the basis of the various teachings that appear universally. Already we are children of the buddhas. Why not follow their lead?

Students! Do not practice buddha-dharma for your own sake. Do not practice buddha-dharma for name and gain. Do not practice buddha-dharma to attain miraculous effects. Practice buddha-dharma solely for the sake of buddha-dharma. This is the way.

5 - You should seek a true teacher to practice Zen and study the way.

A teacher of old said, "If the beginning is not right, myriad practices will be useless.

How true these words are! Practice of the way depends on whether the guiding master is a true teacher or not.

The disciple is like wood, and the teacher resembles a craftsman. Even if the wood is good, without a skilled craftsman its extraordinary beauty is not revealed. Even if the wood is bent, placed in skilled hands its splendid merits immediately appear. By this you should know that realization is genuine or false depending on whether the teacher is true or incompetent.

But in our country from ancient times, there have not been many true teachers. How do we know this is so? We can guess by studying their sayings, just as we can scoop up stream water and find out about its source. In our country from ancient times, various teachers have written books and instructed their disciples, offering their teaching to human and heavenly beings. Their words are immature, their discourse has not yet ripened. They have not yet reached the peak of study; how could they have come close to the state of realization? They only transmitted words and phrases or taught the changing of Buddha’s name. They count other people’s treasure day and night, not having half a penny themselves.

Previous teachers are responsible for this. They taught people to seek enlightenment outside mind, or to seek rebirth in another land. Confusion starts from this. Mistaken ideas come from this.

Though you give good medicine, if you do not teach a method of controlling its use it will make one sicker than taking poison. In our country since ancient times it seems as though no one has given good medicine. There are as yet no masters who can control the poisonous effects of medicine. Because of this, it is difficult to penetrate birth and death. How can old age and death be overcome.

All this is the teacher’s fault, not at all the fault of the disciples. The reason is that those who are teachers let people neglect the root and go out on the limbs. Before they establish true understanding, they are absorbed only in their own thinking, and they unwittingly cause others to enter a realm of confusion. What a pity! Those who are teachers do not yet understand this confusion. How could students realize what is right and wrong?

How sad! In this small, remote nation buddha-dharma has not yet spread widely. True masters have not yet appeared here. If you wish to study the unsurpassed buddha way, you have to travel a great distance to call on the masters in Song China, and you have to reflect deeply n the vital road outside thought. Until you have a true teacher, it is better not to study.

Regardless of his age or experience, a true teacher is simply one who has apprehended the true teaching and attained the authentic teacher’s seal of realization. He does not put texts first or understanding first, but his capacity is outside any framework and his spirit freely penetrates the nodes in bamboo. He is not concerned with self-views and does not stagnate in emotional feelings. Thus, practice and understanding are in mutual accord. This is a true master.

6. What we should know in practicing Zazen.

Practicing Zazen and pursuing the truth are great tasks throughout our life – we should not take them lightly. How could we be rash in carrying them out?
People (who were pursuing the truth) in the past have severed their arms or cut off their fingers; these are excellent examples from China. Long ago
Gautama Buddha gave up his family and relinquished his kingdom; this is also a precedent for practicing the truth.

People today say that we should practice the practice which is easy to practice. But these words are completely wrong. They do not conform to
Buddhism at all. Even if we chose to practice something as easy as lying on a bed, it would eventually become tiresome. And if we allowed ourselves to be
bored by our one practice, all our work would become tiresome. Needless to say, people who like easy practice do not have the right constitution to pursue the truth.

Far from being easy, the teachings which have spread through the world today are just the teachings which the Great Master Gautama Buddha
attained after arduous and painful practices endured in eternal time. The original source was like this. How could the streams be easy? A person who
loves truth should never intend to do easy practice. If they look for easy practice they can never land on solid ground, and so they may have difficulty
getting to the treasure house.

In the past there have been people of very great ability, and even they said that their practice was difficult.
We should recognise the depth and greatness of the Buddhist truth. If Buddhism were originally easy to practice, people of
great ability throughout history would not have said that Buddhism is difficult to practice and difficult to understand. Compared with those people in history,
people today do not amount to so much as one hair from a herd of nine bulls. Even if we summon all our meagre resources and scant knowledge and strive to do difficult practice,
we can never even arrive at what was easy for these old masters to practice and understand.

Just what is this thing that people today like to understand easily and practice easily? It is not secular teaching, and not Buddhist teaching either; it cannot
match the practice of demons in the sky or demons on the ground. It cannot match the practice of non-Buddhists or the practice of intellectual and sensual
Buddhists. It could only be called the most deluded and the most wrong practice of ordinary people. And even if those who seek it intend to get out of
secular society, their daily lives will still be caught in an endless cycle of miserable life and death.

Difficult though it may be to break our bones and crush our marrow, the most difficult thing is to make our mind balanced. Difficult though it may be to keep
the precepts and maintain pure conduct, the most difficult thing is to make our physical conduct balanced. If it were valuable to grind our bones to powder,
the many who have endured such austerities since ancient time would have attained Gautama Buddha’s teachings, but few people really have attained
the teachings. If it were valuable to be a man of pure conduct, many puritans since ancient times would have attained the truth. The reason is that it is very
difficult for a person to make their mind balanced.

Perceptiveness is not important. Scholastic understanding is not important. Mind, will, consciousness are not foremost. Mental images, thoughts, and
reflections are not foremost. Without using these things at all, people in the past have experienced the balanced state of body and mind and entered into
the Buddhist Truth. That is what Gautama Buddha meant when he said that Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara changed direction and lost consciousness of his
perception. When it is clear that two faces – movement and calmness – do not really appear, that is the state of balance.

If the Buddhist truth could be entered through perceptiveness and wide knowledge, senior priest Jinshu would have been a man of the truth. If the
Buddhist truth were averse to vulgarity or low rank, how could the patriarch on Mt. Sokei (Master Daikan Eno) have got the Buddhist truth? It is obvious that
the transmission and reception of Buddhism is beyond perceptiveness and wide knowledge. If we look for the facts, we can get the facts; and if we reflect
on the facts, we can experience Buddhism.

We do not mind being old and withered, and we do not mind being young and in our prime. Master Joshu was in his sixties when he began pursuing the
truth, but he became an excellent master in the lineage of Master Bodhidharma. A daughter of the Tei family began her study of Buddhism
when she was only thirteen and she went on to become an excellent member of a Buddhist temple.

The dignity of the Buddhist teachings only appears if we behave as Buddhists, and we can only distinguish the dignity of the Buddhist teachings if we
experience the Buddhist teachings. Veteran scholars of theoretical Buddhist teachings and experts in secular teachings can all find Zazen eventually. There have been many examples of
this: Master Eshi of Mt. Nangaku was a man of many talents, but he still studied under Master Bodhidharma. Master Yoka Gengaku was an eminent
figure, but he studied Buddhism under Master Daikan Eno.

It may be said that the realisation of Buddhist teachings and the attainment of the truth rely upon study under a master. When you visit a Buddhist master
and study under them, listen to what the master says without trying to match it with your own views. If you compare what the master says with your own
views, you will not be able to get the master’s teachings.

When you visit a master and listen to their teachings, make your body and
mind pure, and make your eyes and ears calm. Just hear the master’s teachings and don’t mix in any other images at all. Making your body and
mind one, be like a jug ready to be filled with waster. Then you will surely be able to get the master’s teachings.

The stupid people of today memorise sentences from books or get knowledge of Buddhist ancestors, then try to match this with what the master says. At
that time they only have their own views or the words of past ancestors. They are not ready for the Master’s words at all.

Another group are those who, giving primacy to their own views, open Buddhist Scriptures, memorize one or two words, and consider that they have
got the Buddhist teachings. Subsequently, after they have visited teachers of clear understanding and masters of the fundamental teachings, if the
teachings they hear are the same as the their own views they affirm the teachings, but if the teachings do not conform to their own old opinions they
deny the teachings. Without knowing how to discard wrong teachings, how can they ever climb back onto the right track? It may be that, even with the
passing of limitlessly many aeons, they will still be deluded people. This might be a most pitiful thing. Is it not sad?

Buddhist students should know that the Buddhist truth is beyond thinking,
discrimination, supposition, reflection, perception, or understanding. We spend our lives dallying around inside of these things, so if the Buddhist truth
exists within them, why have we not realised the Buddhist truth yet? Students of the truth should not rely on the faculties of thinking, discriminating and so
on. At the same time, we are always equipped with thinking and other faculties, and if we apply them with our own body and examine our situation,
then it is like looking into a clear mirror.

The gate of entry into this Buddhist situation exists solely under the control of masters who have attained the truth and who have realised the gate
completely. It is totally beyond the reach of those who just teach words.

Fifteen days after the Spring Equinox (in the lunar calendar), the second year
of the Tenpuku Era (1234).

7. Any person who hungers to practice Buddhism and to transcend secular society should, without fail, practice Zazen.

Buddhism is superior to other teachings. Therefore people want to get it. In the time when Gautama Buddha lived, there were not two teachings at all.
The Great Master Gautama Buddha guided living beings with only the supreme Truth.

Since Master Maha-Kasyapa transmitted the essence and treasury of Gautama Buddha’s teachings, twenty-eight generations in India, six
generations in China, and patriarchs of the five sects, have transmitted the teachings from authentic successor to authentic successor, without any
breaks in the transmission at all.

Therefore, since (Master Bodhidharma came to China in) the middle of the
Futsu Era of the Ryan dynasty (527), among all excellent people, from Buddhist priests to kings and officials, there were none who failed to devote
themselves to Buddhism. Truly speaking, if you love excellence, love what is really excellent. Don’t be like Shoko, who loved dragons but fainted when he
saw a real one.

In China and the east the net of abstract teachings has spread over the ocean and mountains. But even though the net covers their mountains, Buddhist
priests have no oneness of clouds and mind. And even though the net is spread over the ocean, the oneness of mind and waves has dried up.

Stupid people like the systematic teachings of letters. They are as stupid as the man who has caught a fish’s eyeball and claims to be holding a pearl.
Deluded people play around with words. They are as deluded as the man who treasures a pebble in a swallow’s nest as a precious jewel. Most of these
people fall into demon pits, and they usually damage their bodies as well. It is very regrettable that in this country far from civilisation, people easily slip
into reverence of wrong customs, and the right teachings of Gautama Buddha have never been able to spread. In China, on the other hand, the whole
country has already devoted itself to the right teachings of Gautama Buddha. In our country, Korea, and so forth, the true teachings still have not spread.
Why not? Why haven’t the true teachings spread? Koreans at least have been
able to hear about the true teachings, but we in Japan have not even been able to hear their name. The reason is that the many teachers who went from
Japan to China in the past all remained inside the net of abstract teachings. Although they passed on Buddhist Scriptures, it was as if they had completely forgotten about Buddhism itself.
What was the use of doing that? Their efforts came to nothing, because they were ignorant of the real traditions of pursuing the truth.
It is very pitiful that in spite of their efforts, they spent their whole lives just wasting their human bodies.

Generally in studying Buddhism, when we first enter the gate of Buddhism we listen to the teachings of reverend Buddhist priests and we try to practice
according to their teachings. At that time, there is something that we should know. It is this: the Universe turns us and we turn the Universe. When we can
turn the Universe, we are strong and the Universe is weak. When the Universe turns us back, the Universe is strong and we are weak.

The Buddhist teachings have always had these two factors, but no-one other than true successor has ever known it. Hardly anyone other than humble
patch-robed priests, has even heard of this teaching. Before this old principle is recognised, it is not possible to pursue the truth intuitively, and even less is
it possible to distinguish between right and wrong.

Nowadays, however, this old principle has been transmitted naturally to those of us who practice Zazen and pursue the truth. And so we do not make
mistakes. Other sects are not like this.

Someone who yearns for and searches for Gautama Buddha’s way can never find the true way unless they practice Zazen.

8. About the conduct of Buddhist priests and nuns who practice Zazen.

Since the time of Gautama Buddha, the direct transmission in one line has passed throughout twenty-eight generations in India and six generations in
China, without so much as a thread of hair being added, and without so much as a grain of dust being destroyed. The ritual robe arrived at Master Daikan
Eno on Mt. Sokei and the Buddhist teachings spread throughout the Universe. From that time, the essence and treasury of Gautama Buddha’s true
teachings flourished in great Tang dynasty China. The real situation of these teachings cannot be grasped however we grope, and cannot be attained
wherever we search. The real situation is that at the place of perception we forget what we recognise, and in the moment of attainment we transcend
mind.

Master Daikan Eno transcended his humble figure on Mt. Obai and Master Taiso Eka cut off his arm on Shoshitsu Peak. When they got their master’s
marrow, they changed their mental situation and enjoyed the excellent style of Buddhist behaviour. After they prostrated themselves they stepped back and
settled into line unobtrusively. At the same time, they remained at no fixed place and had nothing to attach to, either in mind or in body. They didn’t stop
and didn’t stay.

A Buddhist priest asked Master Joshu, “is there Buddha-nature even in a dog, or not?” Master Joshu said, “Nothing”. Should we pause to consider the word
“Nothing”? Should we linger upon the word “Nothing”? If we look for something concrete to rely upon, there is nothing at all.

Try this: Let go of your hands. Just release your grasp for a while. How are body and mind? How is real conduct? How are life and death? How is
Buddhism? How are secular rules? How are mountains, rivers, and the earth; or people and domestic animals, how are these in the end? As we research
these things again and again, two forms – movement and non-movement – naturally do not appear at all. When this non-appearance occurs, the state is
not rigid, but few can experience it, and many are deluded by it.

Someone who is pursuing the truth is already half way to the truth. Don’t give up until you get there. This I pray. This I pray.

9. Direct yourself at the truth and practice it.

Someone who is bravely pursuing the truth should first make sure that their aim is true. The true aim is, for example, what Gautama Buddha got when,
sitting under the Bodhi tree, he saw Venus shining brightly; in that instant he suddenly realised the supreme way to the truth. The truth that he attained is
beyond the reach of Sravakas, Pratyeka-buddhas and so forth. Gautama Buddha was able to realise the truth by himself. Since then Buddha has
transmitted the truth to Buddha and the transmission has not been broken, even until today. If someone has attained that same truth, how could they
themselves not be Buddha? To “direct yourself at the truth” is to recognise the limitations of Buddhist teachings and to make the state of Buddhism clear.

The Buddhist Truth exists under the foot of every human being. When a person is caught by the Truth, they can clearly realise the moment of the
present. When a person is caught by enlightenment they can perfectly realise themselves as just a person. So even if they understand the truth perfectly,
they may still be able to drop down into one concrete enlightenment. Going directly to the truth is something as free and elegant as this.

Nowadays, people who pursue the truth have not yet recognised what can be understood and what cannot be understood, and so they like to chase after
concrete effects. Is there anyone who does not make this mistake? They are like the son who has rejected his father and is fleeing his homeland, throwing
away jewels with every weary step. Even though he is the only son of a wealthy man, he has long been a tramp in a strange land. Truly, it is only
natural that people should act like this.

In general, students of the truth want to be caught by the truth. To be caught by the truth is to lose all trace of enlightenment. Practitioners of the Buddhist
truth should first of all believe in Buddhism. Belief in Buddhism should be the belief that we ourselves originally exist inside the truth, without delusion,
without wrong images, without disturbances, without anything extra or anything missing, and without mistakes. These are the kind of beliefs we
should establish, and this is how we should make the truth clear. Then according to these beliefs, we practice. This is our basis for pursuing the truth.

What these criteria really mean is that we should sit away the roots of intention, and we should keep ourselves off the path that leads to intellectual
understanding. This is the method by which practitioners should be guided at first. After that, the second step is to transcend body and mind and get rid of
delusion and enlightenment.

In general, the most difficult person to find is the person who believes that they already exists in Buddhism itself. If a person genuinely believes that they
are already in the Truth, they naturally understand the great Truth, and they may even know the origins of delusion and enlightenment.

Of those who try to sit away the roots of intention, eight or nine out of ten will catch sight of the truth at once.

10. Taking a direct hit here and now.

If you want to regulate your body and mind, two ways exist naturally. One is to visit a master and listen to their teaching. The other is to make efforts in
practicing Zazen.

When we listen to the teachings, our consciousness is free to roam anywhere. When we practice Zazen, our practice and experience are securely grounded.
Therefore, if we try to enter the Buddhist Truth by discarding one way or the other, we will never be able to receive a direct hit.

In general, we all have our own body and mind. Inevitably, we are sometimes strong in practice and sometimes weak. We are sometimes brave and
sometimes cowardly. But by using these states of body and mind, which are sometimes moving and sometimes stable, we can experience ourselves as
Buddha directly. That is just a direct hit.

In other words, if we just follow Gautama Buddha’s experience, without changing this body and mind which we have had from the past, we can say
that we are in the here and now, and we can call it a direct hit. It is just following Gautama Buddha, so it is not our own old viewpoint. It is just being
struck by a direct hit, so it is not getting some new state.

Translator’s Note: Yui means “only” or “solely,” butsu means “buddha”
or “buddhas,” and yo means “and” or “together with.” So yui-butsu-yobutsu
means “buddhas alone, together with buddhas.” Yui-butsu-yo-butsu
is a phrase from a well-known quotation from the Lotus Sutra. The full quotation
is: “Buddhas alone, together with buddhas are directly able to perfectly
realize that all dharmas are real form.” In this chapter, Master Dōgen
explains what buddhas are.

[71] The Buddha-Dharma cannot be known by people. For this reason, since
ancient times, no common person has realized the Buddha-Dharma and no
one in the two vehicles1 has mastered the Buddha-Dharma. Because it is realized
only by buddhas, we say that “buddhas alone, together with buddhas,
are directly able perfectly to realize it.”2When we perfectly realize it, while
still as we are, we would never have thought previously that realization would
be like this. Even though we had imagined it, it is not a realization that is
compatible with that imagining. Realization itself is nothing like we imagined.
That being so, to imagine it beforehand is not useful. When we have
attained realization,3 we do not know what the reasons were for our being
[now] in the state of realization.4 Let us reflect on this. To have thought, prior
to realization, that it will be like this or like that, was not useful for realization.
That it was different from how we had supposed it to be, in all our miscellaneous
prior thoughts, does not mean that our thinking, being very bad,
had no power in it. Even the thinking of that time was realization itself, but
because we were then directing it the wrong way round, we thought and said
that it was powerless. Whenever we feel that [we are] useless, there is something
that we should know; namely, that we have been afraid of becoming
small.5 If realization appears through the force of thoughts prior to realization,
it might be an unreliable realization. Because it does not rely upon [realization],
and it has come far transcending the time prior to realization, realization
is assisted solely by the force of realization itself. Delusion, remember,
is something that does not exist. Realization, remember, is something that
does not exist.

[74] When the supreme state of bodhi is a person, we call it “buddha.”
When buddha is in the supreme state of bodhi, we call it “the supreme state
of bodhi.” If we failed to recognize the feature of the moment of being in
this truth, that might be stupid. That feature, namely, is untaintedness. Untaintedness
does not mean forcibly endeavoring to be aimless and free of attachment
and detachment; nor does it mean maintaining something other than
one’s aim. Actually, without being aimed at, or attached to, or detached from,
untaintedness exists. [But,] for example, when we meet people, we fix in
mind what their features are like, and [when we see] a flower or the moon,
we think upon them an extra layer of light and color. Again, we should recognize
that just as it is inescapable for spring to be simply the spirit of spring
itself, and for autumn likewise to be the beauty and ugliness of autumn itself,
even if we try to be other than ourselves, we are ourselves. We should reflect
also that even if we want to make these sounds of spring and autumn into
ourself, they are beyond us. Neither have they piled up upon us, nor are they
thoughts just now existing in us. This means that we cannot see the four elements
and the five aggregates of the present as ourself and we cannot trace
them as someone else. Thus, the colors of the mind excited by a flower or
the moon should not be seen as self at all, but we think of them as ourself.
If we consider what is not ourself to be ourself, even that can be left as it is,
but when we illuminate [the state in which] there is no possibility of either
repellent colors or attractive ones being tainted, then action that naturally
exists in the truth is the unconcealed original features.

[76] A man of old6 said that the whole earth is our own Dharma body—
but it must not be hindered by a “Dharma body.” If it were hindered by a
“Dharma body,” to move the body even slightly would be impossible. There
should be a way of getting the body out. What is this way by which people
get the body out? For those who fail to express this way of getting the body
out, the life of the Dharma body ceases at once, and they are long sunk in
the sea of suffering. If asked a question like this, what should we express,
to let the Dharma body live and so as not to sink into the sea of suffering?
At such a time we should express, “The whole earth is our own Dharma
body.” If this truth is present, the moment expressed as “The whole earth is
our own Dharma body” is beyond expression. Moreover, when it is beyond
expression we should promptly notice the possibility of not expressing it.
There is an expression of an eternal buddha who did not express it: [namely,]
in death there are instances of living;7 in living there are instances of being
dead;8 there are the dead who will always be dead;9 and there are the living
who are constantly alive. People do not forcibly cause it to be so: the Dharma
is like this. Therefore, when [buddhas] turn the wheel of Dharma they have
light and they have sound like this, and we should recognize that in their
“manifesting the body to save the living”10 also, they are like this. This state
is called “the wisdom of non-birth.”11 Their “manifesting the body to save
the living” is their “saving the living to manifest the body.” When we behold
their “saving,” we do not see a trace of “manifestation,” and when we watch
them “manifesting,” they may be free of concern about “salvation.” We
should understand, should preach, and should experience that in this “saving”
the Buddha-Dharma is perfectly realized. We hear and we preach that
both “manifesting” and “the body” are as one with “saving.” Here also, [the
unity of] “manifesting the body to save the living” makes it so. When
[buddhas] have substantiated this principle, from the morning of their attaining
the truth to the evening of their nirvana, even if they have never preached
a word, words of preaching have been let loose all around.

[79] An eternal buddha said:12
The whole earth is the real human body,
The whole earth is the gate of liberation,
The whole earth is the one Eye of Vairocana,13
The whole earth is our own Dharma body.14
The point here is that “the real” is the real body. We should recognize
that “the whole earth” is not our imagination; it is the body that is real. If
someone asks, “Why have I not noticed this so far?” we should say, “Give
me back my words that ‘the whole earth is the real human body.’”15 Or we
might say, “That ‘the whole earth is the real human body,’ we know like
this!” Next, “the whole earth is the gate of liberation” describes there being
nothing at all to tangle with or to embrace. The words “the whole earth” are
familiar to time, to the years, to the mind, and to words: they are immediate,
without any separation. We should call that which is limitless and boundless
“the whole earth.” If we seek to enter this “gate of liberation,” or seek
to pass through it, that will be utterly impossible. Why is it so? We should
reflect on the asking of the question. Even if we hope to visit a place that
does not exist, that is not feasible. Next, “the whole earth is the one Eye of
Vairocana”: though buddha is one Eye, do not think that it must necessarily
be like a person’s eye. In people there are two eyes,16 but when speaking of
[our] Eye,17 we just say “the human eye”;18 we do not speak of two or three.
When those who learn the teaching, also speak of the Buddha’s Eye, the
Dharma Eye, the Supernatural Eye,19 and so on, we are not studying eyes.
To have understood them as if they were eyes is called unreliable. Now we
should just be informed that the Buddha’s Eye is one, and in it the whole
earth exists. There may be a thousand Eyes20 or ten thousand Eyes, but to
begin with “the whole earth” is one among them. There is no error in saying
that it is one among so many; at the same time, it is not mistaken to recognize
that in the state of buddha there is only one Eye. Eyes may be of many
kinds. There are instances of three being present, there are instances of a
thousand Eyes being present, and there are instances of eighty-four thousand
being present; so the ears should not be surprised to hear that the Eye
is like this. Next, we must hear that “the whole earth is our own Dharma
body.” To seek to know ourself is the inevitable will of the living. But those
with Eyes that see themselves are few: buddhas alone know this state. Others,
non-Buddhists and the like, vainly consider only what does not exist to
be their self. What buddhas call themselves is just the whole earth. In sum,
in all instances, whether we know or do not know ourselves, there is no whole
earth that is other than ourself. The matters of such times we should defer
to people of yonder times.21

[82] In ancient times a monk asked a venerable patriarch,22 “When a
hundred thousand myriad circumstances converge all at once, what should
I do?” The venerable patriarch said, “Do not try to manage them.”23 The
meaning is, “Let what is coming come! In any event, do not stir!” This is
immediate Buddha-Dharma: it is not about circumstances. These words
should not be understood as an admonition; they should be understood as
enlightenment in regard to reality. [Even] if we consider how to manage [circumstances],
they are beyond being managed.

[83] An ancient buddha said, “Mountains, rivers, the earth, and human
beings, are born together. The buddhas of the three times and human beings
have always practiced together.” Thus, if we look at the mountains, rivers,
and earth while one human being is being born, we do not see this human
being now appearing through isolated superimposition upon mountains,
rivers, and earth that existed before [this human being] was born. Having
said this, still the ancient words may not be devoid of further meaning. How
should we understand them? Just because we have not understood them, we
should not disregard them; we should resolve to understand them without
fail. They are words that were actually preached, and so we should listen to
them. Having listened to them, then we may be able to understand them. A
way in which to understand them [is as follows]: Who is the person that has
clarified, by investigating this birth24 from the side of this human being being
born, just what is, from beginning to end, this thing called “birth”? We do
not know the end or the beginning, but we have been born. Neither, indeed,
do we know the limits of mountains, rivers, and the earth, but we see them
here; and at this place, it is as if they are walking.25 Do not complain that
mountains, rivers, and the earth are not comparable with birth. Illuminate
mountains, rivers, and the earth as they have been described, as utterly the
same as our being born.

[85] Again, “the buddhas of the three times” have already through their
practice accomplished the truth and perfected realization. How, then, are we
to understand that this state of buddha is the same as us? To begin with, we
should understand the action of buddha. The action of buddha takes place
in unison with the whole earth and takes place together with all living beings.
If it does not include all, it is never the action of buddha. Therefore, from
the establishment of the mind until the attainment of realization, both realization
and practice are inevitably done together with the whole earth and
together with all living beings. Some doubts may arise in regard to this: when
we seek to clarify that which seems to be mixed into ideas that are unknowable,
such [doubting] voices are heard; but we should not wonder whether
[the state of oneness] is the situation of [other] people. This is a teaching to
be understood, and so we should recognize that when we establish, and practice,
the mind of the buddhas of the three times, the principle is inevitably
present that we do not let our own body and mind leak away. To have doubts
about this is actually to disparage the buddhas of the three times. If we quietly
reflect on ourselves, the truth exists in the fact that our own body and
mind has been practicing in the same manner as the buddhas of the three
times, and the truth is evident also that we have established the mind. If we
reflect upon and illuminate the moment before and the moment behind this
body and mind, the human being under investigation is not I and is not
[another] person; in which case, as what stagnant object can we see it, and
thereby consider it to be separated from the three times? All such thoughts
do not belong to us. When the truth is being practiced by the original mind
of the buddhas of the three times, how is it possible for anything at all to hinder
that moment? The truth, in short, should be called “beyond knowing and
not knowing.”

[87] An ancient person said:26
Even the crashing down [of illusions] is nothing different;
Fluency27 is beyond discussion.
Mountains, rivers, and the earth,
Are just the total revelation of the Dharma King’s body.
People today also should learn in accordance with the saying of [this]
person of ancient times. [Mountains, rivers, and the earth] already are the
body of a king of Dharma. Therefore there existed a king of Dharma who
understood that even the crashing down was nothing different. This idea is
like the mountains being on the earth, and like the earth bearing the mountains.
When we understand, the time when we did not understand does not
return to impede understanding. At the same time, there is no case of understanding
being able to destroy past non-understanding. Still, both in understanding
and in non-understanding, there is the mind of spring and the voice
of autumn. The reason we have not understood even them is that, although
[spring and autumn] have been preaching at the top of their voices, those
voices have not entered our ears—our ears have been idly wandering inside
the voices. Understanding will take place when, with the voice already having
entered the ears, samādhi becomes evident. We should not think, though,
that this understanding is small whereas the non-understanding was great.
We should remember that because we are beyond matters we have conceived
privately, “the Dharma King” is like this. As to the meaning of “the body of
the Dharma King,” the Eye is like the body and the mind may be equal to
the body. It may be that both the mind and the body, without the slightest
separation, are “totally revealed.” We understand that in the brightness of
light and in the preaching of Dharma, there exists, as described above, the
body of the Dharma King.

[89] There is a saying from ancient times that none other than fish knows
the mind of fish, and none other than birds can follow the traces of birds.
Few people have been able to know this principle. Those who have interpreted
only that human beings do not know the mind of fish and that human
beings do not know the mind of birds, have misconstrued [the saying]. The
way to understand it is [as follows]: Fish together with fish always know
each other’s mind. They are never ignorant [of each other] as human beings
are. When they are going to swim upstream through the Dragon’s Gate,28
this is known to all, and together they make their mind one. The mind to get
through the nine [rapids] of Zhekiang,29 also, is communicated in common.
[But] none other than fish know this [mind]. Again, when birds are flying
through the sky, walking creatures never imagine even in a dream the knowing
of these tracks or the seeing and the following of these traces; [walking
creatures] do not know that such [traces] exist, and so there is no example
of [walking creatures] imagining [such traces]. Birds, however, can see in
many ways that hundreds or thousands of small birds have flocked together
and flown away, or that these are the traces of big birds that have gone south
or flown north in so many lines. [To birds, those traces] are more evident
than wheel tracks in a lane, or a horse’s hoofprints visible in the grass. Birds
see the traces of birds. This principle also applies to buddhas. They suppose
how many ages buddhas have spent in practice, and they know small buddhas
and great buddhas, even among those who have gone uncounted. These are
things that, when we are not buddha we never know at all. There might be
someone who asks, “Why can I not know it?” Because it is with the Eye of
Buddha that those traces can be seen; and those who are not buddha are not
equipped with the Eye of Buddha. Buddhas are counted among those that
count things; without knowing, [however,] they are totally able to trace the
tracks of the paths of buddhas. If, with [our own] eyes we can see these traces,
we may be in the presence of buddhas and we may be able to compare their
footprints. In the comparing, buddhas’ traces are known, the length and depth
of buddhas’ traces are known, and, through consideration of buddhas’ traces,
the illumination of our own traces is realized. To realize these traces may be
called the Buddha-Dharma.

Shōbōgenzō Yui-butsu-yo-butsu
This was copied under the southern eaves of
the guest quarters of Eiheiji on Kichijōzan, in
Shibi Manor in the Yoshida district of Esshū,30
at the end of the last month in spring in the
eleventh year of Kōan.31

--------------

footnotes:

1 The vehicles of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha.
2 Lotus Sutra, Hōben. See LS 1.68.
3 Satori nuru is here used, in the present perfect, as an intransitive verb, literally, “to
have been enlightened, to have understood.” Used as a transitive verb, it means “to
realize.” In general, the term “enlightenment” has been avoided because of its idealistic
connotations. The noun satori, similarly, has been translated as “realization”
in preference to “enlightenment.” See Chapter Twenty-six (Vol. II), Daigo.
4 Or “When we have been enlightened, we do not know what the reasons were for our
being enlightened.”
5 Because we are worried about becoming small we try to become better, instead of
realizing ourselves in the present.
6 Master Chōsha Keishin; see the following paragraph.
7 For example, a person on a battlefield establishes the will to the truth.
8 For example, a person wastes time regretting something that has already happened.
9 People laid to rest in cemeteries, etc.
10 Genshin-doshō. See LS 3.252.
11 Mushō no chiken. Mushō, “nonappearance” or “non-birth,” expresses reality, which is
both instantaneousness (in the moment there is no appearance) and eternal (reality has
no birth or beginning). Mushō is also used as a synonym for nirvana. Chiken, “knowledge”
or “knowing,” is used many times in the Lotus Sutra to represent praj˝ā, or the
Buddha’s wisdom. See, for example, LS 1.68; LS 1.88–90.
12 Master Chōsha Keishin (d. 868), a successor of Master Nansen Fugan.
13 Vairocana is the Sun Buddha, a symbol of universal light.
14 A slightly different version of Master Chōsha’s words is quoted in the Engozenji -
goroku, chap. 6.
15 A person who can only understand the words intellectually does not deserve to have
the words.
16 Me means ordinary eyes.
17 Manako is the Japanese pronunciation of gen, which means not only eyes but also
Eye, view, experience, etc.—as in Shōbōgenzō, right Dharma-eye treasury.
18 Ningen. Here gen means not only the concrete eye but also the function of seeing.
19 Tengen refers to tengenzū, the power of supernatural vision, one of the six mystical
powers. See Chapter Twenty-five (Vol. II), Jinzū.
20 Sengen alludes to the thousand eyes of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. See Chapter
Thirty-three (Vol. II), Kannon.
21 We should rely on traditional expressions of the truth.
22 Master Chinshū Hōju (dates unknown), a successor of Master Hōju Enshō, who was
the successor of Master Rinzai Gigen. Another of Master Chinshū’s conversations
is quoted in Shinji-shōbōgenzō, pt. 1, no. 40.
23 Ta [o] kan[suru koto] naka[re], or “Do not care about them.” Keitokudentōroku,
chap. 12.
24 Shō means both “birth” and “life.”
25 Master Fuyō Dōkai said, “The blue mountains are constantly walking.” See Chapter
Fourteen (Vol. I), Sansuigyō.
26 Master Kōkyō Shōju, quoted in the Sekimonrinkanroku (Sekimon’s Forest Record),
vol. 1.
27 Jū-ō, lit., “vertical and horizontal,” describes the fluency of a buddha’s preaching of
Dharma. The same words appear in the opening paragraph of Chapter One (Vol. I),
Bendōwa: “When we speak [of Dharma], it fills the mouth: it has no restriction vertically
or horizontally.”
28 Dragon’s Gate is the name of a set of rapids on the Yellow River. It is said that a carp
that gets through the Dragon’s Gate becomes a dragon.
29 Kyū-setsu. Kyū, “nine,” means many. Setsu means Sekkō, which is both the name of
a province (Zhekiang) and of a fast-flowing river in which there are many rapids.
30 Corresponds to modern-day Fukui prefecture.
31 1288, thirty-five years after Master Dōgen’s death. The date on which Master Dōgen
completed the chapter is not recorded.

This has been a wonderful experience Deep Bows to all those who made the Rohatsu weekend possible and special thank you to Jundo and Taigu for the effort they make and the care and love they show to us all.

Thank you to Jundo and Taigu, to all of you that sat this retreat, are sitting or will be sitting!
As Yugen said, I am moved by our teachers commitment and dedication, as well as that of members of this sangha.

I have more to sit, I just wanted to share my gratitude - it was great to see your faces (I was on live stream or recorded for most of this) and to hear your voices!

Thank you to Jundo and Taigu. I mostly sat along with the live feed, but I did manage to get into the hangout a bit on Day 2. This was a great experience. I still have a bit to catch up on, but I am going to do that now.

I also wanted to remind folks to thank their families who give us the gift of their time and patience while we sit. My wife has been incredibly supportive, especially with her birthday coming right in the middle of the retreat on Saturday!

I also wanted to remind folks to thank their families who give us the gift of their time and patience while we sit. My wife has been incredibly supportive, especially with her birthday coming right in the middle of the retreat on Saturday!

Nine bows to all our families!

Gassho,
Dosho

Thank you Dosho for that reminder ... our families are an important and active part of our practice. =)

Gassho
Shingen

RINDO SHINGEN
倫道 真現

As a trainee priest, please take any commentary by me on matters of the Dharma with a pinch of salt.

I have begun some of the retreat and will be sitting with all of you in the retreat more the next couple days. I had planned being able to sit live for a good portion but it didn't seem to work out. I think being sick this week severely threw me off, for example I thought Friday was Thursday and so forth. I will be sitting with the recorded the next two days. Thank you everyone.

I also wanted to remind folks to thank their families who give us the gift of their time and patience while we sit. My wife has been incredibly supportive, especially with her birthday coming right in the middle of the retreat on Saturday!

Nine bows to all our families!

Gassho,
Dosho

Dosho,
Happy Birthday to your wife!

I owe my family a big debt of gratitude as I was sitting most of the weekend, and especially to my son Sam who gave me his room to use as a Zendo (Dosho, that was your room while you were here in August!).....

Thanks to Taigu and Jundo. Due to two snow storms, I had to rearrange my times, but was able to sit along with the group quite a bit. The coordination of the Ino group was a nice surprise. I especially appreciated people's questions.
Shinzan

So much thanks to Jundo.
So much thanks to Taigu.
So much thanks to all who sat and will sit.
So much thanks to our supportive families.
So much thanks to the big ol' yellow dog who sat the entire weekend with me (well, lay next to me actually).
So much thanks to the many ancestors and Buddhas.
So much thanks to all sentient beings.

May we all live the enlightened way together.

Deep, deep bows,
Eric

Sent from my S4 via Tapatalk4

sekishi
石志

As a novice priest-in-training, this is simply an expression of my opinion. Please take it with a grain of salt.

Thanks to everyone who sat, sits or will sit. And thanks especially to our "coaching staff", with the tips I've learned and the recent storm I'm going to get on the ice right now and attempt some tricks. Or maybe I lost something in translation.

Wonderful retreat. The hangover was still there when I sat today evening with Dosho's monday sitting group. My sitting/body/mudra felt very still.

When I joined this forum 10 months back, I was skeptical about sitting with an online group, not to mention sitting with a non-live recorded video. I was proved wrong with every weekend sitting over the months. This rohatsu wiped out all and any remaining doubts.

Not talking to my wife or kid was difficult, the pain in the leg was difficult. But sitting and giving myself to the practice over two days was beautiful. Taigu's and Jundo's talks in the middle were so soothing and made rohatsu more lively. I particularly liked when Taigu said "Enjoy your sitting". I enjoyed my sits after that. Sitting with joyful ease.

I also felt somehow I was being protected, things around me were getting taken care of, allowing me to sit. I was on-call support at work this weekend and it is strange that I didn't receive any calls where I needed to work. Only one call and that too right after my sitting.

Thank you Jundo and Taigu and all my fellow dharma brothers and sisters.